Absentee Owner

What is an Absentee Owner?

An absentee owner is a person or organization that owns a particular property e.g. shopping malls, or hotels without engaging in it or managing it. The similarity between an absentee owner and an absentee landlord is that both own a real estate without living in it. The term absentee owner is indicated to differentiate between property owners that are hands-on with their investment in contrast to those who are not involved in the management of the property at all. Absentee owners usually invest in a real estate only and require a third-party to take care of the management duties, as in a property management company. Absentee ownership is generally referred to individuals who do not live close enough to their investment property in order to manage it actively. Without a management company, absentee owners have to check in on their properties regularly, and this could lead to problems when they are not around to oversee tenants or the property itself is disregarded. The challenges of absentee ownership make their properties a target for other real estate investors who see absentee owners as potential motivated sellers. Consequently, some real estate investors compile lists of absentee owners as leads for property deals.